Celebrating With Superhero Artists! JZ Turns 3!

August 23, 2017

It’s hard to believe that I have a 3 year old but with that being said, I love celebrating his yearly milestones with friends and family at his annual birthday bash. Plus it gives me a great excuse to throw an excessive party, and we all know I’m a sucker for a good theme party! This year was no different except we kept the party a little smaller with close friends and family- now that JZ is old enough to give his input, we (aka:HE) decided on “Superhero Artists.” The shindig was held at my favorite art spot for kids in Scottsdale, Rachel’s Young at Art studio. If you haven’t visited Rachel’s with your kids, you’re missing out on a fun spot where kids can make a huge mess and you don’t get stuck cleaning up. Plus they offer camps, classes, and special Saturday projects!

With the help of Storybook Entertainment, we arranged a visit from Captain America and Superman, the birthday boy’s favorite heroes! Storybook Entertainment offers princesses, superheroes, and popular characters for children’s parties and can have the character of your choice sing your child happy birthday, read a story, or put on a themed show. We may have used Captain America as a bribe for the month leading up to the party (“JZ, if you eat your broccoli Captain America will come to your birthday party” “If you don’t pick up your mess, Superman will not come” etc.) Worked like a charm!! Here are a few more details from the epic bash which JZ describes as “the best day of my life!”

The Invitations: JZ is obsessed with the Hulk so I knew we had to start there. Luckily I found the cutest design shop, Kleverguerrero that was able to turn my little man into the Hulk. We included superhero stickers and temporary tattoos in every invitation to make the invites interactive.

The Décor: I love a good customized birthday banner and I found 2 that I adore. We hung the rustic burlap superman inspired banner from ANOTHERBOYBANNERS at the entry and the character cut out banner from LINDSAYISARTSY by the dessert table. The cute framed superhero print (at the top of this post) is from PAPERPARTYDESIGNINK which I thought was so sweet and appropriate for a 3 year old party (especially the part that says “listens to authority”- ya right!)

The Food: Since the party was constantly in motion, we opted for easy to eat Mexican finger food from Ajo Al’s for the adults, fruit/veggie/cheese trays, and superhero boxes lunches for the little ones. (I recently found out Sprouts makes the BEST party platters- who knew?) We wet our whistles with a few adult beverage options and customized water bottles from PartiesR4Fun(that’s where I found the matching candy bar wrappers too!) The boxes for the kiddo’s lunch are from FancyThatLoved and can be dressed up for any occasion. They are sturdy and ideal for little hands to maneuver! We served “hulk juice” in Hulk cups from LuluandHope. Not only does this shop sell party accessories, the t-shirts they make are adorable- especially the “Teach like a Pineapple” shirt for teachers (just check it out, I promise it’s cute.)

The Dessert: The cake was exactly what JZ wanted- something to represent all his favorite superheroes and full of sprinkles! I’m so impressed what the artists at Floured did with very little direction and free reign of design. The gals at Floured Bakery created the superhero (chocolate and lemonade flavored) cupcakes which got rave reviews from the kids and adults…especially the homemade frosting. If you’re in AZ and need a dessert for anything Floured Cupcakes can bring your sweetest dreams to life. The super hero cookies were made by Julie at Jewels Bakery and Café in Phoenix. Each superhero was hand painted and unique so no cookie was the same. You can tell Julie pours her heart and soul into her cookies. She also makes fabulous cakes and savory treats in addition to operating the cutest breakfast and lunch spot in the Aracdia area.

The Favors: We did a something a little different for the favors this year- we created a Favor Bar! Kids (and grown ups) were invited to assemble their own memento by stuffing super hero themed toys, candy, crafts, bubbles, etc. in a superhero themed bag from TalkOfTheParty247. These handmade bags were an awesome fit and each item from her shop is customized and handcrafted.The superhero bubble wands are from TriziART and featured a little superhero bead attached to bubbles that can be made to fit any theme. The skittle candy tubes (and fondant cupcake toppers) are from AMORECAKES which can be customized and filled with any candy that will fit. Since we celebrated in August we went with the good old non-melting skittles! The black and yellow batman crayons from PLAYINGWITHCOLOR2 were perfect to go with the various super hero coloring books from good old Amazon. I love that this shop can make crayons in any shape or color to fit your needs- check out her designer tape too- it’s adorable for gift wrapping! Speaking of wrapping, the custom “JZ” wrapping paper pictured earlier in this post is from minted.com.

The Clothes: You can’t host a theme party without getting into the spirit with your outfit! My superhero skirt is from EMIBOUTIQUE where she makes all sorts of custom skirts for any occasion. It was a toss-up between this one and the batman print! JZ’s customized Avengers trucker hat is from ASFOREVER1 and his pants and light up sneakers are from Marvel. I’m totally obsessed with his hat and you can get them in various styles personalized for any occasion! If you’re thinking about some kiddo back to school shopping- check out all of these shops- such cool stuff for littles (and adults!!)

This year I enjoyed every second, lived in the moment, and didn’t pick up a camera phone at all throughout my little guy’s birthday party. Thank goodness Meagan Bodensteiner of Meagan Bodensteiner Photography did! Meagan has been photographing JZ’s birthday parties since he was born. She is awesome and if you live in AZ you gotta check her out for family portraits, candid shots, and event photography!